Syrian army Base 46 keeps rebels at bay

URMA AL-KUBRA, Syria: Base 46 was supposed to fall in a matter of days, but rebels have failed to take it despite a two-week siege of the Syrian army barracks that is a strategic prize in the battle for Aleppo.

The clashes have dragged on along with the prolonged fighting in the streets of Syria’s second city between loyalists of President Bashar Assad and rebels.

Causes of the failure to capture the base range from shortage of ammunition to differences between commanders of the various anti-regime battalions, say sources in the rebel groups.

The rebels had said they mobilized at least 1,500 fighters from across Aleppo and the province of Idlib under the command of General Ahmad al-Fajj to seize the base.

But over the past two weeks, the army has held on to the vast barracks on high ground in Al-Atareb, at a junction of highways connecting Turkey from the west and Idlib from the south.

The troops are firmly entrenched in the building of a former agricultural school in the village of Kafr Ama adjacent to the base, with snipers keeping any advance at bay.

From the base itself the army has regularly fired heavy artillery shells on the surrounding villages of Sahara, Ibizmu and Urma al-Kubra, the last of which rebels say used to be filled with pro-government militias. Rebels captured Urma al-Kubra on Sept. 22.

MiG bombers – whose roars reverberate in the sky – have dropped bombs on rebel positions around the base. A no man’s land of nearly two kilometers lies near the base, where slender buildings are shredded by shrapnel.

“Not a bomb for nearly a week,” said a 50-year-old man from Atareb, five kilometers west of Base 46. “They fly MiGs from time to time ... They bomb rebels who are close to the base.”

The capture of Base 46 would mark a major victory for the rebels, who say they have already “liberated” extensive swathes of territory in northwest Syria.

The rebel’s takeover of the nearby village of Urma al-Kubra on the highway leading to Aleppo has helped cut the main supply route for the army coming from Idlib.

“The base gets its supplies by helicopters that drop their cargo from very high,” said rebel Abu Ali. “It often falls to us – they’re dying of hunger.”

The threat of MiGs is seen as the main reason for the army holding on to the base. “And [our] lack of ammunition among,” a rebel commander said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

There are also disagreements between rebel battalions, say some sources, with some commanders challenging the authority of Fajj, a former officer in Assad’s army.

Fajj has banned Islamists, who keep a low profile in Aleppo, from taking part in the siege of the base.

According to the rebel commander, 20 soldiers from the base defected last Friday and gave accounts of low morale and hunger among the 300 to 350 men defending Base 46.

“According to their testimony ... many want to surrender but Alawite officers have threatened to kill them if they make any such move,” he said.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on October 09, 2012, on page 8.

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